TDM Pairing Guide

[Zerreth]

This guide will cover the information that you need to help you as a player find another player to pair up with in TDM. It's recommended for players who will be playing TDM Matches more seriously than the average player and use the "team" factor to the fullest and travel in pairs.

The guide will cover a few things about TDM. General Behavior of players, Specific Playing styles and the compatibility between different playing styles.

Disclaimer: This guide will not cover the behavioral patterns of D-style players simply because I haven't seen enough. If you are someone who isn't focused on having team efficiency, then this guide will probably be a bad choice for you to spend about 5-10 minutes on. Also, the benefits of K-style and description of K-style are my opinions. The reader has full right to disregard my information.

This is a common occurrence that I see in TDM. Two players team up and move around together except they're separated due to a few common scenarios:
A. One player has a better movement capability than the other making it harder for the other player to follow.
B. One player gets killed first early on leaving the other wide open.
C.(If FF is on) One player kills the other then gets killed by the enemy.

These worst case scenarios are tend to be caused by the incompatibility between players and the inefficiency of combining their playing styles.

Note: From here on, all styles, behaviors and their respective pairings will be under the assumption that the reader is that specific type. All exceptions will be considered two-way. All pairings are with the assumption that FF is ON.
General Behavior
In this section, Players will be divided up into 4 categories. Independent Defensive (ID) or Offensive (IO) and Dependant Defensive (DD) or Offensive (DO). This will be a simplified way of first seeing how well you can work with the character.

Independent Defensive:
To be Independent Defensive is to be a player who can handle mob situations situations easily and tend to fight alone. They usually consist of Turtlers and BF spammers. A BF spammer would be one of those players who uses BF at high speed to try and take down their opponent except they tend to only move side to side or in a way that tend to make them block more shots than slash other players during combat. Many k-stylers would be in this catagory.

Independent Offensive:
Many Independent Offensive players tend to be well performing K-stylers who who use HS effectively or BF effectively. Needless to say, they tend to travel alone and are probably those who are easily mobbed by other players. E-stylers by choice also tend to be in this catagory as they tend to know how to move efficiently and use their weapons effectively.

Dependant Defensive:
These players are those who tend to use the terrain to their advantage are those players who pop out of corners as you try to run away from another player. An easy way to pick them out is to observe their movements. They tend to pause at effective hiding areas and manipulate the 3rd person view to look over the corner.

Dependant Offense:
These players also use terrain to their advantage. They tend to be seen on high vantage points trying to snipe you as you're attacked by many "ground-to-ground" players. They also are seen spraying you as you are assaulted by a butterfly combo. They are also those players who tend to join in a group of 2-3 butterfliers with their own butterfly.

General Notes:
The Dependant players are a bit harder to pick out from the crowd simply because they will stick close to others. When first grouping up and moving with each other I suggest you first work with Independent players to get the hang of TDM with pairing. The best way to see if the pairing works is if FF is on. If your "partner" tends to complain a lot (not personality-wise) about being shot by you, it probably means that it's not a good pairing.

Compatibility:
Mixing the different types of Behavior tends to have the best results with the exception of having two IO players being paired. Any double defense combinations tend to yield probably the poorest results due to the difference in how they move during combat and non-combat situations. Double offensive is also quite bad as it somehow tends to leave the DO player an easy and open target. One exception would be is if the IO player uses an effective butterfly combo.

[Zerreth]

Playing styles
This will probably be the main focus of the guide as it will be not only the most extensive but the most specific section as well. The section will cover on the specific behavior of players along with patterns to differenciate between k-style players. All styles mentioned will have the assumption that the reader is playing either in the Veteran, Expert, Elite or Free Channels. Assumed lowest level will be 15-18.

Spraying and E-style
Spraying is generally referred to as being "noob." However pairings with sprayers tend to be useful as they provide easy cover fire and a "decoy," if you will, to make an easier target. Below are the different tendencies of E-stylers/sprayers.

Fire-Take Cover
Applying other FPS strategies here, many sprayers use this strategy to take advantage of corners and walls. The general pattern is to fire and then tumble in a direction. Or fire then jump and tumble in a direction.
Compatible with: Hybrid-SS Affinity, Movement Dominant, Swap Dominant, Accuracy Dominant

Fire-Walk
Generally used by those who tend to have very low delay automatics. They tend to walk around and fire or move and tumble with very direct movements. They tend to be the first to kill or be killed depending on the teammates.
Compatible With: Fire-Walk, Fire-Take Cover, Hybrid-Sprayer Affinity, Hybrid-SS Affinity, Butterfly Dominant, Chain HS, Swap Dominant, Balanced K-style Type 2.

Fire-Wall Hugger
Although this can't be considered a completely independent entity, this characteristic is often seen combined with Fire-Take Cover. I would be referring to the characteristic of sprayers who fire and then jump off walls or use the wall techniques to avoid fire temporarily. They tend to be efficient at Wall climbing, Wall running or both.

Speed Fire
This is my personal term for E-stylers who choose to be E-stylers. These tend to be the "expert" E-stylers who use the sword dash as the effective way to move and use automatics. The even more "expert" Speed Fire users would have extensive knowledge on how to leadshot. While their performance is not perfect, they can be paired with anyone except Sprayers.

K-style
A good portion of players use K-style. K-style is an effective way to position one's self into a good firing position. Many ranged K-style techniques allow the user to fire and then move in another direction to avoid any unnecessary hits from effective lead shooters.

Butterfly Dominant
Like the name says, these types of players tend to be very good with Butterfly. They tend to lean towards using the sword and tend to know most, if not all, sword techniques. Their most effective way for killing is using the butterfly combo along with a close range (or what I call "perfect") SS. They tend to lack the dead on accuracy and the efficient usage of techniques past SS.
Compatible with: Butterfly Dominant, SS/HS Dominant, Movement Dominant, Accuracy Dominant, Balanced K-Style Type 1, Balanced K-style Type 2.

SS/HS Dominant
A general K-styler who's butterfly is so-so and with semi-decent accuracy. Often they are seen using Rev/Breaker, if not double Breaker. They tend to have an average kd ratio of 2:1 or 3:2. It's a very generic k-styler which can represent a good % of the total amount of K-stylers.
Compatible with: Fire-Take Cover, SS/HS Dominant, Chain HS, Swap Dominant, Balanced K-style Type 2, Hybrid-SS Affinity.

Movement Dominant
K-stylers who've worked on their k-style a bit and use HS effectively. They tend to also know FlashStep quite well and can efficiently move around the terrain and get a good sense of the topography of a map. They tend to be players who HS to move into a better position to fire rather than use it for defensive purposes. It's about a 50-50 ratio between accurate aimers and those with no control over offensive K-styling. Reload Shooters would be in this catagory. Many Wall K-stylers would fit here.
Compatible with: Fire-Take Cover, Fire-Walk, Butterfly Dominant, Movement Dominant, Swap Dominant, Accuracy Dominant, Balanced K-style Type 1.

Chain HS
These types of players will probably represent half the "sprayer" population of k-Stylers. Either using Double revs or Double Breakers they will chain HS constantly when in sight of an enemy. A good way to spot these types of players is that they will be dashing back and forth as if they were bf'ing. While it does display their dexterity, their aiming tends to be lackluster due to trusting the spread of a weapon rather than precision aiming.
Compatible With: Fire-Walk, SS/HS Dominant, Movement Dominant, Accuracy Dominant, Balanced K-style Type 2, Hybrid-Sprayer Affinity, Hybrid-SS Affinity.

Swap Dominant
They represent the other half of "sprayers" in the k-styling community. These players are often depicted by the use of their double weapons and use swapshooting with a slightly unsteady mouse. Many of these Swap Dominant users tend to swap shotgun shots unnecessarily and decrease their efficacy. While they are capable of quick kills many don't develop their Swapshooting capabilities as far as efficient reload shooting. Many Swap Dominant players also seem to have a defficiency in Butterfly.
Compatible With: Fire-Walk, Fire-Take Cover, Chain HS, Swap Dominant, Accuracy Dominant, Balanced K-style Type 2, Hybrid-SS Affinity.

Accuracy Dominant
These are the swapshooters who fire usually in 3-5 round bursts and double rev users who effectively use HS to take out their enemies. While many accuracy dominant players are probably capable of HHS, they don't due to the "bounce" effect that can lower the accuracy quite a bit.
INcompatible With: Fire-Take Cover, Butterfly Dominant

Balanced K-style Type 1
These are effective k-stylers who mix Butterfly Dominance and Movement Dominance. They would probably be one of the most versatile fighters.
INcompatible With: Chain HS, Swap Dominant

Balanced K-style Type 2
These K-stylers mix between Butterfly Dominance and Swapping. They tend to lean towards ranged attacks however. Their accuracy is very good and tend to fight at an effective mid-range distance.
Compatible With: Fire-Walk, SS/HS Dominant, Movement Dominant, Swap Dominant, Accuracy Domiant, Balanced K-style Type 1, Balanced K-style Type 2, Hybrid-Sprayer Affinity

Other
These are the "other" playing styles that can't be catagorized with what I have stated above.

Hybrid-Sprayer Affinity
These hybrid-style players make good use of the terrain and have fairly decent accuracy. Their sword techniques aren't really the best but their effective movement capabilities make them harder to hit than one would believe. Their Primary weapon would be an automatic (chance of using an MG) while their secondary would be a Shotgun.
Compatible With: Fire-Take Cover, Fire-Walk, SS/HS Dominant, Swap Dominant, Accuracy Dominant, Balanced K-Style Type 2, Hybrid-Sprayer Affinity, Hybrid-SS Affinity

Hybrid-SS Affinity
These hybrid-style players tend to have fairly good accuracy while effectively using Million Step and firing their automatics in efficient bursts. They do tend to lack the lengthy sprayer fire and seem to have less of a solid grasp on their FlashStep than their Sprayer counterparts but they can use their butterfly effectively. Their Primary weapon would be Breaker/Rev while their secondary would be a low delay automatic.
Compatible With: SS/HS Dominant, Movement Dominant, Chain HS, Swap Dominant, Accuracy Dominant, Balanced K-Style Type 1, Balanced K-Style Type 2, Hybrid-Sprayer Affinity, Hybrid-SS Affinity.

All-around Type 1
These are top notch players whose accuracy is outstanding and can move around maps quite freely. Their K-styling along with their Spraying are both effective and they tend to be those types of players who have a high kd ratio on many TDMs. They tned to seem a bit out of control however. While their ability and their Butterfly are outstanding, they tend to have a lack of control over their mouse or have too high of a sensitivity. While these types of players tend to be more Independent than others, they are compatible with anyone.

All-around Type 2
These are top notch players whose dexterity allows them to move very quickly with little effort. They have an extensive knowledge of the k-style techniques and are effective in linking techniques for the optimum speed. Due to their outstanding movement, they tend to have accuracy that matches because of their efficiency in moving to a proper position. While their playing is quite controlled, they often seem to have spasms where they alternate between their optimum performance and lack of efficiency in their techniques. While they are quite Independent, they are compatible with all players.


Final Notes
There are many exceptions. MANY MANY exceptions. What I have listed is a general guideline for you to follow. People styles tend to differ depending on their personality. To get a better feel for who you’re compatible with and who you’re not, simply team up with them if they wish. Playing and pairing up with other players is really the only way to see how you respond to others.

Treat every game like it was FF on. No one likes to be shot with FF Off anyway and it improves your aiming in tense situations. When pairing up, try to observe their general behavior along with their fighting characteristics. It will give a better result of whether the pairing will work or not. Pairing is essential for Clan wars where EXP is really secondary and the concept of Team is Primary.

[filya1]

it turns out that most ppl dont have a choice of team mate when entering TDMs. So this guide really does not have any influence on choice.

Also, where wud one get time to spot and isolate the different kinds of players and then use their flaws to kill them.

Usually in a TDM, you tend to stick to your own technique rather than improvise according to other's skills.

but overall, nice effort and thinking there.

[Camus66]

Originally Posted by filya1

it turns out that most ppl dont have a choice of team mate when entering TDMs. So this guide really does not have any influence on choice.

Also, where wud one get time to spot and isolate the different kinds of players and then use their flaws to kill them.

Usually in a TDM, you tend to stick to your own technique rather than improvise according to other's skills.

but overall, nice effort and thinking there.

quotted for truth

[·Bat]

Nope nope, no help at all.

NT NT.

[Nayruu]

well +1 for effort, but not really necessary.

[I_Hate_Liver]

Ok, guys, that was a good effort, but even if I won't use it at all, congratulations by your styles classification.

[Azeroth]

Originally Posted by zerreth

Speed Fire
This is my personal term for E-stylers who choose to be E-stylers. These tend to be the "expert" E-stylers who use the sword dash as the effective way to move and use automatics. The even more "expert" Speed Fire users would have extensive knowledge on how to leadshot. While their performance is not perfect, they can be paired with anyone except Sprayers.

lol? I'm a total 'Speed Fire' style player, and I work fine with sprayers. Hell, I'd rather have a sprayer keeping that butterfly off my back than some k-styler across the map.

Oh, this guide helped me a lot. Not because of the pairing thing, but as an effective way to identify and counter player styles. Thank you.

[controls]

thumbs up for Zerreth =D

[Zerreth]

it turns out that most ppl dont have a choice of team mate when entering TDMs. So this guide really does not have any influence on choice.

Also, where wud one get time to spot and isolate the different kinds of players and then use their flaws to kill them.

I tend to see this often as I play. It's just something I do when I die. Also, I believe this may be useful for clan wars. You tend to see that kind of distinction a lot more often.

Considering the response, maybe it's just me I guess.

[NSman]

Not a bad guide.
Like the other said...the pairings aren't that great.
The classifications weren't bad though.

[Faded]

good guide. like filya said, many people just do what the normally do. so do i. i mean sometimes ill be like, oh that guy likes to hide alot i need to do this and that to get him easier. but i dont watch EVRYONE only like 1 good person. i usually suck. the pairings werent good but nice effort. i made a guide for females who use sg/sg and use nothing buy thps, and all. it wasnt good either. dont feel bad.

[mechphree]

To be honest it seems good on paper but most people wouldn't do this..and most people play tdm like they play are dms, thats why they're always screaming 'ZOMG KS' then when they get ganged they complain about they had no team .